Time for the Truth
by fictionwriter28
Summary: With Toxon controlling the Elementors, what is Max to do but tell his friends the truth in hopes they will fight with him for the city they all love. The question is, how do they take the news that their supposed best friend had been hiding from them for two years. (Set in the new series and can become more if people really want it.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just a random idea I thought of one day and simply went with it. Hope you all like it.

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Out of options and time, Max hastily looked around at the Elementors destroying Copper Cannon's buildings, sewers, air and homes, making a decision he hoped he would not later regret. In a voice filled with urgency and fear, the young agent spoke, "Kirby, Sydney, follow me. There's something I have to show you."

Able to sense the boy's thoughts, but not exactly read them Steel worriedly asked, "Max you can't seriously be doing what I think you're doing," both all too aware of the people following behind them, eager to discover what their supposed friend of the last two years had been hiding.

Not pausing in his run, Max solemnly answered, "No choice Steel. You saw how Toxon was controlling those Elementors. The only way to beat them is by telling Sydney and Kirby the truth and hoping they accept it enough to help fight. If not….well I'm sure you get the idea."

Unaware that both people had just heard his conversation and now thought that he was crazy….well crazier, Max rounded the corner that led to the entrance and threw just a bit of his turbo energy at the correct alley wall, ignoring his friends' freaked out reactions when it disappeared and was replaced by a small car meant for one person.

"Sydney you get in first and Berto will be on the other side to meet you. I promise everything will be explained once we are all there," the young man urgently explained with a warm smile. "Just be warned though, the ride there will take your breath away."

The young woman didn't even get a chance to ask what he meant before the vehicle started speeding her along the track so fast she couldn't tell which way was up or down. While Steel was typically needed to power the vehicle, Berto had temporarily commanded it to work on external power provided by N-Tek's generators in order to get both civilians to base without causing a massive, detectible spike in Max's turbo energy due to the separation, no matter how short. Currently they had enough problems on their hands, the last thing they'd need was DREDD finding him and joining in the fight.

Now left in silence until the car got back, Max stood with his arms crossed over his chest, watching and hearing the city-his city-erupt in flames and people desperately crying out for help. Until a plan was formed, there was sadly nothing he could do. There was a phrase he heard many times from his Uncle Farris during training sessions, "Diving in head first is diving in brains last," essentially meaning if he ever went into a situation without a plan (and a good reason to do so), he was sure to either die or find himself in a situation he could not escape. Unwilling to end up in that situation, Max struggled to ignore the cries of the innocent people and control the urge to get out there and fight. The only reason he was able to do so now was due to those many training sessions.

"So….who were you talking to before?" Kirby awkwardly began, trying to distract himself from the unimaginable violence that was taking place all around him. Unlike his pal Max, Kirby did not have any training to fall back in this sort of situation, so the struggle to do so was immense. Even though to most he appeared as a laid back skater/surfer kid that did not let much bother him, Sydney and Max were among the few who knew the true, sensitive soul that he was. This day would likely end up haunting him for years to come.

Not really paying attention to the question, Max confusedly turned around and rubbed the back of his neck replying, "Huh? Oh, uh sorry Kirby. I was just thinking about yours and Sydney's possible reaction to my secret along with worrying about the city. The funny thing is, even though I always imagined that this day would come in some form, it's hard to believe that it's actually here now."

Easily shrugging off the mistake, the young man fought to ignore the sound of glass shattering and buildings likely filled with many law abiding citizens, being destroyed as he shakily shot back, "Eh, I underst-stand, it's no p-problem. I just asked w-who it was you were talking to b-before." Of course before he could receive an answer, the passageway opened up again, revealing the waiting car.

Without wasting much time, Max again hastily looked around for any potential dangers while pushing his friend into it and urgently telling him, "I promise you'll find out when I get there next. Just please be sure to tell Berto that C.Y.T.R.O. needs to be up and running yesterday, as we need all the help we can get out here. He'll know what you mean, trust me." That said, the brunette haired young man shut the top and sent Kirby on his way, hoping both people took the news well.

Officially alone, Steel emerged from Max's backpack and hovered in front of him, crossing his "arms" and semi-seriously asked, "Ok one, are you sure you want to do this? Two, does Farris know what you are doing, and three ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! You have no idea how those two will react to learning a secret this big!"

"Ok in order Steel," Max quickly began, crossing his arms over his carefully toned chest while looking at the machine, "Kind of too late to back now, sort of and no. We both know that this was the only way to get at least a little more help without going public, which I would do if Uncle Farris wouldn't serve my head on a platter for doing so. You have to agree that our secret, and that of N-Tek itself, is not worth the city."

Speechless, the normally talkative cybertron could do nothing more than hover in front of the young brunette haired agent as they both silently waited from the transport to come back for them. Truth be told, even if Farris did know exactly what Max was doing, he would probably agree, no matter how tentative that agreement was. By now, it was well known throughout the Copper Canyon base that they needed all the help they could get, even if it did mean telling a select few civilians the truth. Aside from Max, Berto, Kat, Molly, Jefferson, and Farris himself were also bringing in a select few of their own civilian friends. In everyone's mind, the more people they had, the better their chances of winning, even though it did mean sacrificing their secret.

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A little sick from the intense ride, Sydney struggled to hold back her natural urge to empty her stomach as Berto carefully helped her out of the car and into a nearby chair he had rolled over for just such an event. Locking the wheels in place to ensure she did not go anywhere, Berto quickly grabbed a nearby trashcan and shoved it into her weak arms before rushing to send the car back for Kirby as fast as he could. At this point, speed and efficiency were two critical factors in saving their city. The faster everyone could get here for the planning session, the quicker they could get back out there to fight and win the city back.

With the car on its return trip to the two boys still waiting, Berto grabbed the cold bottle of lemonade he had been about to drink when he got the call from Max, and ran back over to ensure Sydney was alright as he kneeled down in front of her and proceeded to calm her down as best he could. Truth be told, Max was better at the whole emotions and comforting thing than he was. Sure he could do it on occasions like this when he had to, but it was completely awkward for this boy whose life revolved around computers and numbers.

"Hey Sydney, look at me," the Hispanic young scientist carefully began, "Just breath through your nose and sip on this," he continued, gently taking back the trashcan and setting it by her side (just in case), as he replaced it with the small plastic container.

Too tired to argue, the young woman robotically raised the bottle to her lips and took a brief experimental sip, afraid her body might reject the slightly bitter liquid. Contrary to what she had thought, her body actually began to accept the cool refreshing drink as she slowly began to drink more, still not completely over her bout of nausea. Before Berto could do anything more to help the young woman, the sound of escaping air pressure filled the room for a few seconds as the car carrying Kirby came to a sudden gentle stop.

Ever the helper, Berto swung back into action, rushing over to see if he needed any help as well. While not as green as Sydney first was, Kirby still looked a bit out of it himself. After helping him into another chair that he had previously pulled over and giving him his own trashcan just in case, Berto went back one last time to send the transport for Max who by now was likely fighting with Steel about the desire to be out there fighting instead of in some underground headquarters.

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A/N: If you read this far, thank you for doing so and please feel free to leave a review so I can improve.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry this took so long, been busy with school and real life. Sorry and hope you enjoy this next chapter.

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As the seconds ticked silently by (aside from the sounds of chaos all around the pair), Max had to fight harder and higher to control the ever growing urge inside himself to essentially ditch his friends and go into battle without any sort of plan other than simply 'take them down'. Sure that was likely to be the main plan anyway, but in order to successfully defeat the four combined Elementors and Dread, everyone needed to be able to work together as team and in order to do that, they needed a plan so no one would get in anyone else's way. Speaking of teams, while N-Tek was normally an organization that liked to keep things "in house", that is within their own ranks, the facts were that one, there was no way to get anyone else inside the city safely or alive without being spotted and second, even if they could get inside there was not enough time for them to do so.

Stuck with only their limited numbers, Farris was forced order every individual to do whatever he/she deemed necessary to win the war on their town, not thinking at that point just what exactly that would end up including. With the battle raging on in every part of the city and quickly diminishing their once strong numbers, Farris slowly found himself temped to give the order to break N-Tek's cardinal rule of secrecy. Looking around, he easily saw that they needed help and they needed it fast, no matter where it came from.

After another hour of intense fighting and losing countless more due to either death or serious injury at the hands of these monsters, Farris finally cracked and sent out the one message he always hoped he never had to. Bringing his watch communicator close to his lips, he urgently spoke, "To any all N-Tek agents still out there, listen carefully to this message as I only have time to give it once," briefly pausing both for dramatic effect and to ensure anyone who could listen to his message was. "I know this will be hard for a lot of you to hear after years of secrecy on your parts, but the time has come for us to rely on those closest to us, that is to tell a select few of our closest family and/or friends the complete truth about what you really do every day. I'll tell you now that this option does not come around often, so for those of you who feel up to this unique challenge, I strongly suggest you take it. Farris out."

Instruction complete, the man immediately got back to work, shooting and taking down as many of Toxon's goons as he could before either being injured or killed. Little did he know that his nephew Max had already implemented his words long before they were even given. Currently Berto, Sydney, Kirby, Max and Steel were already at base explaining the truth and getting ready to plan their own attack.

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"Ah, I never get tired of that," Max happily sighed, casually hopping out of the transport and walking over to join his friends who still looked a little green, but were getting better. Coming up behind the two chairs, he could easily make out their slumped over postures and asked, "Oh, you two alright?"

Shakily looking up from the cool drink, Sydney slightly raised her right hand and carefully replied, "Yeah we will be Max, just-just give us a minute or two," before dropping her hand and returning her gaze back to her plastic container, currently the only thing that did not appear to be at an odd angle. Never having been on a ride with such speed combined with at least two loops in a few years was enough to send her for one. When it came to coasters, she typically preferred the ones that were pure speed with no loops, no matter how rare those were. This was due to the fact that when she was about twelve, her friends convinced her to go on a ride called "Silver Bullet" at a place called Knott's Berry Farm and was slightly nauseous and dizzy for the next few hours. From that point forward she promised herself she would never go on another ride with loops ever again if she could help it.

Satisfied with her answer, Max nodded his head in conformation and proceeded over to his best pal inside N-Tek walls and so as not to disturb his friends whispered, "You sent out C.Y.T.R.O. right, because until we can get out there, you know as well as I do that he is our best defense. The carnage outside is already bad enough; we do not need it getting any worse." Despite only being an agent for the better part of two years, Max and Steel found themselves increasingly able to work alongside Berto in order to create the best C.Y.T.R.O. they could with as few flaws as possible. Sure there were always going to be some, as nothing was ever perfect, but at N-Tek they strove to come as close as possible especially when it involved their weapons and gadgets, as there were times that without those they would have surely lost the battle against whoever or whatever it was that they were facing. For the newest C.Y.T.R.O. this meant ensuring that there were no openings that something like a water Elementor could get into and short circuit while at the same time protecting C.Y.T.R.O. himself from being able to be remote controlled by someone other than them. This was done simply by having both the remote and the receiver inside the robotic machine constantly going through a simultaneous channel sweep every two minutes.

Confused for a second as to whom he was talking to, Berto whipped around from his console to ensure it was Max and jokingly answered, "Did that before you even got here dude. Also, did you realize that you sound just like your uncle when you said that last part about things getting worse?" Over these short two years, the older man had become like a surrogate father figure to the teen, both inside and outside the walls of N-Tek. Two of the most notable times typically occurred when Farris tried to hold Max back from a given mission usually due to inexperience or being too close to the situation and again when he had to punish the teen for something such as going behind N-Tek's back for some reason or other. Due to their close relationship, Berto knew that it was only time until the younger agent began picking up some of the man's habits and ways of talking.

Max shuttered at the idea alone (as what teen wants to be anything like another member of their family), and clamped a hand down on the young scientist's shoulder before sarcastically shooting back, "Please don't say that bro, cause then I might start acting like him as well and I don't think anyone could handle two of him. I'm sure you agree that the holobot is bad enough when you're not the one controlling him," recalling an April Fool's Day prank from about a year ago where he had Steel discreetly take control of the machine and insanely order Berto around for about half the day until a mission involving Toxon just had to interrupt their fun. Of course upon finding out about the prank, the young scientist swore revenge on the two. "Now imagine if that had been me instead of the holobot."

Casually leaning back against his console, Berto crossed his arms over his chest and playfully laughed began, "Yeah I remember that, not fun. Although that reminds me, I still have yet to get you two back for that." Uncrossing his left arm he held it up with a single raised index finger and semi-seriously continued, "And before both of you think that purposefully hacking into and messing with your modes during that training session was enough, let me remind you that I only did it because Farris ordered me to. He wanted to see what and how well you both would do if something similar to that ever actually happened in battle. Obviously you both passed, but that was only after half a dozen attempts."

Just about to retort that it was only because of his constantly changing which mode did what, such as his flight mode triggering his strength mode or speed mode triggering his scuba mode or simply not functioning at all, he was interrupted by his uncle coming over the communication link and sending out the message for any and all willing agents to give up their secret in favor of saving their town. Hearing the man begin to speak, Berto immediately turned back around to once again face his station in the likely event he was ordered to do something to better help those out in the field. After hearing the message and realizing that in fact he was not needed, Berto turned back to his friend, crossed his arms over his chest again, but this time with a cocked head and raised eyebrow and sarcastically asked, "Ok is there something you're not telling me, such as the fact that you're physic?"

"Wouldn't that be something," Max smiled and joked in return, throwing his head back for extra emphasis and catching a glimpse of his two other friends in process. "Oops, forgot about Kirby and Sydney. You know Berto, it's going to be weird having them know after this. I mean with how I've somehow managed to keep it hidden from them for this long….Sort of hard to believe."

Unable to do anything but agree, Berto glanced down at the floor then back to Max before sighing and saying, "I know what you mean. While I haven't spent as much time around them as you have, I've still been around them long enough to somewhat understand what you mean." From this point forward, no longer would either have to make an excuse to leave and save their town if not the world. That and should anyone begin asking questions about either Max Steel and/or Max McGrath, they could really help.

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A/N: Well there you guys go, hope you like this as I sacrificed my study time to write it and yes the big reveal scene will be in the next chapter. I don't have it written yet, but I hope to have it up by the end of this week, that is by Sunday. Please don't hold me to that as my life has a funny way of changing at the last possible minute. Also now that you've made it this far, please feel free to leave a review and tell me how much you loved or hated this chapter or the story in general. Even if you do hate, please do not feel bad for saying so. As long as it is not a flame, I can handle anything. Now, thank you so much for reading this far and hope to you next chapter.

Fictionwriter28


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry this took so long, as usual I've been crazy busy with school as per usual. With the end of the year coming up, I promise that I'm doing my best to find time to write this. Well here's hoping you like this chapter as much as much as the last. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. :-)

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Worriedly glancing at his two best friends Kirby and Sydney for a brief few seconds, Max silently began going over ways to tell them the truth before dropping his gaze to floor and shaking his head, dismissing an errant thought. Sure he personally had several plans at the ready to go in his head in the event something like this ever happened, but now that it was here he found it difficult to do so. Ever since his almost exposure about a year and a half ago, the upmost need for secrecy had been drilled into him time and time again throughout training session after training session. Heck, there had even been a handful of times where he practiced this exact situation as part of his training due to N-Tek's policy to truly be ready for anything. The kicker was the real difference between practice and real world. With training you could go back and do things over time and time again, whereas with real life you only had one chance and only a vague idea how the other person/people would react. Like Steel said, "You have no idea how those two will react to learning a secret this big!" As far as the three agents in the room (Max, Steel, and Berto), knew from hundreds of missions they had been through together, the one thing you could count on above all else was unpredictability. In other words, even though it was not typically in their nature, both civilians could completely freak out, be furious and refuse to speak to Max ever again or worse yet threaten to reveal his secret to the world. On a slightly different note, they could end up simply accepting Max for whom and what he really is along with agreeing to go through the world's fastest crash course in martial arts basics so as to not get themselves killed out there. Obviously there was only one way to find out for sure.

Able to read his partner like an open book despite his attempts to mask the emotions, Berto could not do anything more than sympathize with his partner. Lightly placing a hand on his shoulder he gently said, "Your secret, your choice bro. Tell them however you want and know that I will be here to back you up no matter what." Over the couple years of working together the young scientist knew that in a situation like this, the best thing to do was let Max figure things out for himself, that way if anything went wrong he could not feel guilty for anyone else. Dropping his hand, Berto wordlessly turned around and got to work watching recordings of the Elementors and Toxon destroying the city, looking at every angle for a possible weak spot or pattern to exploit and win the war. For now, that was proving rather elusive as every attack seemed to be random and aimed at simply devastating the city and drawing Max out. Wait a minute…that was it! With a plan quickly forming in his head, Berto hastily began pushing buttons like mad and designing the final attack.

Left with nothing else to occupy his time or distract him any longer, Max nervously began approaching Kirby and Sydney when he suddenly remembered one person or rather alien that normally could not shut up unless his "life" depended on it, was for once entirely silent and had been practically ever since first arriving at headquarters about half an hour ago. "Hey Steel, everything alright?" Max hesitantly questioned, not entirely sure if he wanted to hear the answer, but knowing it was better to take care of any problems now while in the lab instead of letting them build and having to deal with them later in the field and in the heat of battle. Last time he did that, he almost reached his utter limits and came extremely close to passing out and reverting back to Max McGrath sans mask in front of DREDD of all people. Ever since then, he became better about taking care of any and all problems between himself and Steel as fast as possible, least he face another similar situation only this time exposing his true identity to anyone watching in the process.

Not really paying attention to anything other than scanning for any potential dangers basically ever since they got to base (which with the current situation they could not be too sure about), Steel absently replied, "Huh…what….oh, uh sorry Max, I was just thinking about what we're about to do and why we have to do it in the first place. Speaking of which, you have any idea on how you want to break the news to them?" While it was true that the two were 'ultra linked' and Max could hear Steel in his head whether he wanted to or not, the same could not be said in reverse thus meaning that whenever Max had an idea, he had to verbally explain it. Normally this was not too big a problem as Max was typically quiet enough not to be heard by others, but in battle there were times where it proved quite troublesome.

Nervous over what he had to do soon, Max stopped and subconsciously scratched the back of his neck replying, "Well, actually I was thinking that since they know about Max Steel, I would just go over to them with the mask on, let them ask where McGrath is then let the helmet come off revealing who I am. What do you think Steel?" While there were plans in place for this sort of thing, they often varied agent to agent and depending on the current situation. Considering what they were up against and how little time they had, Max's idea seemed like it would work best as it let him come straight out and admit his secret thus giving them more time for any quick basic questions, figuring the more in depth ones could be answered later once this entire situation was cleared up.

Momentarily thinking this plan over, Steel shrugged and answered, "Seems as good as any plan I guess, and seeing as it's all we got right now why not just go with it and take care of any damage later." As it was, they had already spent too much time at base. The faster they could get things moving and back into action, the better for everyone. From the sound of Farris's message urging everyone to essentially abandon their secret and the intense fire fight all around him, things were bad out there and bound to only get worse. Even without him saying Steel, Berto, and Max knew that they had already lost some good men and women to these atrocious monsters and none of them were anxious to add their fearless commander Farris to that list if he was not already. The sooner they could get back out there, the better.

Without another word, Steel encased Max's head in the mask as he proceeded over to his two best friends, who now looked a lot better and were quietly conversing with each other over what this place could possibly be and why they were brought there. "I…can…answer…that for you," Max nervously replied in his "hero" voice, stopping just in front of the two so they could see all of him. With a deep breath, he was about to start his quick explanation when he saw Sydney looking around the room as if searching for someone. Playing ignorant in front of them for the final time, he changed his words and instead asked, "Are you looking for something miss….?"

Realizing she had been caught, Sydney shyly looked at him and awkwardly laughed, "Oh, uh Sydney, Sydney Garner. Sorry Max Steel. I was just uh looking for my friend Max….McGrath that is. He is about 5'8", has short kind of spiky brown hair, blue-green eyes and has a thin build. He was the one who brought us here after all. If this is just some sort of joke and we are not supposed to be here, then we will just leave and not mention any of this," she gestured to the lab around them, "to anyone, we promise. Don't we Kirby?" she added as more of a statement than a question.

Unable to control his voice at the moment due to being in the presence of his current hero, Kirby did the only thing he could and numbly nodded yes, that they could be trusted to keep such a big secret and leave if they really had to. Of course while that was not his first choice, he would do it if kept him out of trouble with the oggie bogie government spooks. As everyone has doubtlessly heard in countless scary movies and books, they can basically do whatever they want with you and get away with it. As such, he like Sydney was not too keen to test the idea, even if Max Steel was somehow apart of it.

Before either civilian could get up and head towards the transport that brought them here, Max sighed and looked down at the ground telling them, "No, you were brought here for a specific reason. Just know that I did not mean for my constant lies and random excuses/disappearances to come between our friendships. Please understand that you guys mean more to me than you could even imagine. It is you guys who help to keep me grounded so to speak. Without you two, I'm scared to think of where I would be."

Shocked that they could mean so much to a hero and confused as to why, Sydney was about to question this when Max's mask suddenly vanished and he looked up, allowing them to see not just who had been underneath these past two years, but also the fear, determination and resignation that was in his normally calm brown eyes. Only one word passed through both teens' mouths, "MAX?!" Neither could believe that the young man they had been friends with for two years had been moon lighting as a secret agent for…..whatever this place was.

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A/N: Sorry this is late, but recently I've had some family drama come up so I've had to balance that with homework, working out, doing stuff around the house, etc…I hope you all understand and that this chapter lived up to your expectations. Also, don't forget to check out the Max Steel forums that I've set up to talk about all episodes past, present and future. Now please feel free to leave your thoughts in anything other than a flame. Thanks for reading and hope to see you next chapter. :-)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this is late, but between the holiday (Mother's Day for those of you reading this outside the US), homework, friends and helping out around the house, I've been extremely busy. Truthfully, I'm just glad I could find time for this at all. Well hope you enjoy this next chapter and just know that I'm not really that good at fight scenes which will be coming up soon (hopefully) so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated so I can improve. Now back to your regularly scheduled chapter.

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"MAX?!" both Kirby and Sydney gasped upon seeing the true face behind the mask. Never had they thought that their best friend could be a top secret agent. Sure they had seen him fight from time to time thus making them suspicious, but more often than not he seemed to run from fights; although now it made sense. Whenever he ran off with some unbelievable or overused excuse, it must have been to change into Max Steel and save the day as they had seen him do countless times. The only problem was that a couple years ago when he first showed up, he had been all but revealed to approximately forty kids on a school field trip. Question now was how was he able to be in two places at once and thus preserve his identity for this long?

On that same note, what the heck was this place? It looked like something out of a movie with one central work station following the perimeter of the room, a gigantic screen in the middle with some sort of machine connected to it, a wheel away work table, tool chest with TV screen, light screen (likely used for x-rays and such), and many more gadgets and machines that Kirby and Sydney could not even begin to guess the function of. The only way they were going to find out anything was by asking the young agent in front of them that was if they could get their brains and mouths to work, as currently they were still trying to take in the information they had just learned. Truthfully it was not easy to take in the fact that your best friend of two years that you shared practically everything with was in all honesty a real life superhero/secret agent. Things like this don't happen to people like them except in books, movies, TV shows and fanfictions and there was simply no way their life was any of those.

While the two civilians were struggling to find the words to talk, Max could do nothing more than stare between them, attempting to get used to the reality of having them finally know the truth. For the next several seconds silence rang out as everyone simply stared at each other, attempting to come to terms with what had just happened. For their part, the two were taking the news better than Max had hoped. They were not freaking out and/or blowing up at him for keeping the secret for one. Then again, that could be because they were currently too shocked to do much. Brushing off the thought, Max took a breath and began again, "Look you guys, I understand that this is a lot to take in at once and I'm sorry I hid this from you for so long, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. This power," he emphasized, raising his hands and allowing them to glow briefly with a small amount of pure TURBO energy before causing it to dissipate, "was practically forced upon me on my sixteenth birthday of all days.

"Furthermore, upon finding out about this place and coming to work for them, I was quickly ordered by my boss not to tell anyone outside of my team here at N-Tek the truth." Already sensing the questions, Max continued, "To answer the questions that I know are burning in your head, I'll say this: first off, I am not sure if I am currently allowed to reveal my boss's name so I am not going to do so right now and secondly N-Tek is a secret organization tasked with finding solutions to the big problems such as global warming, alternative fuels, etc… or at least that's what I was told when I first joined. Now, any other quick questions before we go over to Berto and check out his plan?"

Still finding it difficult to form words, Sydney and Kirby simply looked at each other in pure shock and awe for a few seconds more until the young woman rediscovered her voice. Just as she was about to speak, Steel separated from Max, crossed his "arms" over each other and sarcastically asked, "Hey, am I expected to introduce myself here?" Now completely at a loss of what to say, neither civilian could do anything more complicated than blink and glance between the floating machine, each other and back again, as all of what they were seeing was simply too weird to be real. Like before, this sort of thing only happened in the four places mentioned above aka fantasy worlds.

Hoping to break the stunned silence they had once again fallen into, Max awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and jokingly stated, "Well, glad to see you guys are taking this better than I expected, as neither of you has yet to pass….." he trailed off, watching Kirby's head lull forward as he passed from consciousness to unconsciousness. "Out. Well, guess I spoke too soon," he added, running a tired hand down his face. Truth be told, this day had taken more out of him than a lot of his past missions combined, and it wasn't even close to being over yet. Walking forward and kneeling down, Max placed two fingers against Kirby's neck to ensure he was only knocked out and could not help but sigh in relief when he felt a strong steady pulse under his fingers. Satisfied for the moment that he was going to be fine, Max let himself fall backwards on his hands sitting on the cool tile floor, taking a moment to go over what had happened and come to terms with it, knowing his friend should come to within the next few minutes.

Somewhat alone for the moment, Sydney located her lost voice and gathered all her courage before looking at Max and slowly exclaiming, "Well, this certainly explains a lot, such as why you were always disappearing on us and why you were never around when Steel was and vice versa. I just have one question though," she paused making sure she had his attention before continuing, "Remember that time about two years ago when Max Steel…err, uh you I guess, had first started showing up?" At Max's weak nod yes, she went on, "I am now curious as to how you managed to be in two places at once. Was it one of your powers, a projection, a robot, what?"

Not too surprised by her question, Max wearily answered, "You were sort of right with your last two guesses. It was what we call a holobot, which is basically a robot base imprinted with as much of a person's identity and personality as can fit on the memory card which as you saw, demonstrated the fact that the more realistic the better the effect." Softly laughing he added, "Definitely comes in handy for situations like those, of which we luckily have had very few as they take a nice amount of energy to fuel." Once again stunned, Sydney simply sat back attempting to absorb the new information. Unsure of whether or not she could hear him, Max slowly stood up and said, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to check with Berto on how the battle plan is coming along. If Kirby wakes up before I get back, please tell him what I told you." Turning around, Max began to jog over to the young scientist when he remembered something important. Turning his head over his shoulder, he hastily added, "Oh, also tell him that if you guys do decide to help us out, both of you will need to go through the quickest crash course in physical, mental and weapons training as possible. In the event that either or both of you choose not to, that is perfectly fine as well. It will only mean that one or both of you will remain here where it is safest. No one here wants to force anyone to do anything they do not feel comfortable doing…well aside from me of course. Then again I am a unique case so…" Shrugging his shoulders in a sort of 'what can you do' sort of way, he turned his head back around and proceeded over to Berto once again, Steel following behind.

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A/N: So sorry this took so long to post, but with the end of the school year and finals practically here, I'm just glad I even found time to write this at all. I hope this came out to your liking and it lived up to my usual standards. Also I would like to take the time to thank my reviewers: Brackenfern, doglover1290, Thelegofan and 4753andrew for doing so. Every review means so much to me. So once again, sorry this is so late and thank you for taking the time to read.

Fictionwriter28

P.S.: Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everyone thanks for sticking with me and continuing to read to the few who have, thank you SO, SO much for your kind reviews; they all mean so much to me. Every time I see a new review to my story, I can't help but get a little excited. I'm also glad to read that you all like this so much. What's funny is this idea started simply from my imagining of what would happen if Max ever did have to reveal his secret to Kirby and Sydney. Originally I didn't even have a reason why he did so, only that for one reason or another he did have to tell them. Never did I expect this to be anything more than a one-MAYBE two-shot at best. That said, thank you all again for reading and reviewing this. Oh and there's one more thing I have to say, but I'll leave it for the bottom so that you may get to your patently awaited chapter. Like before, I hope it lives up yours and my standards. Enjoy. :-)

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Once out of normal human ear shot, Max paused to look at Steel with one raised eye brow, head tilted slightly to the left and arms crossed over his chest, before semi-seriously exclaiming, "You know you didn't have to pop out like that and freak them out. I would have introduced you." Or at least, that's what he wanted him to think anyway. Truth be told, Max was so wrapped up in his revelation and especially Sydney's reaction to it that he sort of forgot about his now always there pal, Steel. Sadly, no matter how much either of them wished it otherwise at times, they were both stuck together for the rest of Max's short life. This happened when Steel originally bonded or 'ultra linked' with Max in order to help him regulate his TURBO energy. Without it, Max would have exploded there and then and still could if either of them was apart from the other for more than eight hours. By this point, both had gotten so used to the other that they tended to forget about each other from time to time, especially in situations like this.

Already knowing Max as well as he did, Steel rolled his 'eye' and crossed his 'arms' sarcastically said, "Yeah, sure you would have," without waiting for his partner to respond, he dropped his 'arms' and sarcasm and gently continued, "Max, its fine. Given the circumstances, I completely understand. Truthfully if I was you, I likely would have done the same," after a brief pause to playfully think over what he just said, Steel eventually added, "ok not true, but you get the idea. I simply said that to help ease the tension and apparently it worked." Unable to do anything other than agree, Max dropped his head just a bit and shook it in silent laughter before continuing his walk toward Berto, knowing his floating partner would follow behind.

"Hey how's the plan coming Berto?" Max questioned, clapping a hand on the opposite shoulder he was peering over to look at the plans for himself, not that he had much hope in understanding Berto's scientific shorthand notes, but he still had to try anyway. Almost done and unwilling to lose his train of thought, the young scientist did nothing more than hold up a single finger on his right hand to signal for one moment more before quickly dropping it and resuming his original work. In the meantime, Max dropped his own hand from his shoulder and backed several feet away in order to not disturb his genius partner and quietly asked Steel if he could understand any of what Berto had written.

Not needing more than a minute to analyze what he had seen, the alien technobot began, "Well the short version involves multiple…"

* * *

Finally having some time to herself to think over everything that had happened along with what was ahead of her should she choose to help, Sydney tiredly sighed and let her head fall into her hands that were propped up on her knees. For an average civilian such as her, all this information was enough to make her head spin. It was a wonder she hadn't passed out along with Kirby. Unsure of what to do and how much longer she had until the young man next to her woke up, she used her fingers to frustratedly rub her eyes and figure out what to do from here. True she like many others in Copper Canyon (men, women and children alike) had spent at least a few hours marveling over what it would be like to go on an actual mission with their own "Man of Steel". The thing was, now that the opportunity had actually presented itself, it no longer held the same allure as before due to the dangers now being more real than she ever would have liked. The question now was, did she want to help or remain "safe" here at base, because surely they would eventually get to this location shortly outside the town.

With a confident exhalation in her choice, Sydney slowly dropped her hands and brought her head up for another quick a look around when the quiet sound of weight shifting in the chair next to her caught her attention. Realizing it was only Kirby once again coming to, she instantly relaxed and silently shook her head to dismiss all nervous thoughts and feelings in order to better tell her friend what she needed to. The clearer she could do this, hopefully the less Max would have to deal with, as she could just tell from the weary look in his eyes which was trying to remain hidden, that he already had enough on his plate as it was, anymore and he just might cave. Like the rest of them, Max Steel was only human in the end. Although now that she thought about it, she was left to wonder how he hid this side of his life and balanced school on top of it. Even being a straight-A student, Sydney knew that she likely would have already caved if she had been in Max's place.

Her contemplation did not last long, as Kirby began to slowly raise his head and blink his eyes in an attempt to reorient himself with where he was and what had happened to cause him to blackout in the first place. "Ugh, what happened? Why does my head hurt so much?" the young man questioned, carefully opening his eyes to ensure nothing around him was going to start spinning. When everything remained stationary, he continued to open his eyes as memories from the past forty-five minutes suddenly came back to him. As it did, he could not help but simply use his hand to prop up his head and shake it, still in amazement that all of what he remembered was real. Wasn't it?

Unsure of how exactly to respond, Sydney awkwardly laughed and explained, "Well, that's likely due to the fact that you passed out after some robot thing detached itself from Max's chest. Why that happened, I have just as much clue as you do." Pausing for a moment to let her friend completely come around and realize she was there as well, she eventually continued only when he looked her in the eyes. "As for why we are here and how both Steel and McGrath were seen in the place on several occasions, I can answer. Anything else will have to be answered by the man himself, as that is all I currently know." Breathing a quiet sigh of relief that she managed to make it that far without her voice shaking from the fear that still resided inside of her, Sydney allowed herself to sink back into the chair that she had unknowing begun to come out of. Knowing she still had some explaining to do, she mentally coached herself through the next process, as for once she was struggling to remember something important.

Suspicion confirmed Kirby could do nothing more than lean back in his own chair with wide eyes and wait for his female friend to continue explaining, because with a secret like this there just had to be an exciting backstory. Too bad all he was going to get was the minimal information due to her lack of knowledge and current frazzled state of mind. "Well as far as I remember from what Max told me, we're here because he's offering us the chance to help him save Copper Canyon; although he also said that we don't have to if we don't want to. Although should we accept, he told me that we will have to go through a crash course in weapons, physical and mental training in order to be anything close to ready for whatever we may face out there. Now, as far as seeing both McGrath and Steel in the place at the same time on several occasions, that was due to what they call a holobot. In short it was a robot that was able to somehow convincingly look and act like a given person, which in the many cases we and most of the public saw were either Max Steel or Max McGrath. Like I said before, any other questions you likely have will have to be answered by Max himself as I just told you all that I know." Finally done with her part, Sydney allowed herself the opportunity to simply sit back and let everything-including her firm decision-to sink in.

Mind running on overdrive due to all the new information, Kirby sat leaning forward with his forehead placed in his hand and facing the ground with his eyes closed struggling to come to terms with how real all this was and what to do from here. Actually the choice was clear, the problem was did he really want to take it now that the dangers were all so real. Shaking his head in silent acceptance of his own choice and the situation around him, the young man let out a quiet laugh as to say 'I can't believe I'm about to do this' before raising his body part from its position and looking to his female friend on his left and seriously whispered, "You ready Syd? You know what you want to do?" A slight nod of her head was all he needed to proceed over toward his male best friend on the other side of the large room, figuring Sydney would follow behind if she wanted to. For all of his joking, laidback goofball attitude, Kirby actually could be quiet serious when he needed to. It was a side of him few got to see.

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A/N: *Gasp* What have Kirby and Sydney decided? Will they help out or remain at base? In order to find out you will have to wait until the next chapter, which by the way I hope to have up before I leave to my job at Camp Azalea Trails in Idyllwild CA. If not, I promise to try my best to post things while up there. Although going off last summer, things can get kind of crazy, you're immensely tired and the internet connection up there is limited everyday so I make no promises. Once again I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations of me and thank you for reading. Oh and also thank you a guest reviewer who pointed out that Max's eyes are blue not brown like I had thought, sorry. :-)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy getting ready to go work at a summer camp, having a social life and helping out around the house. Hope this next chapter makes up for all the filler that came before it. As always, please enjoy and feel free to leave a flame free review at the bottom.

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"…..immediately following that one would assume we would then close in and take him down from there." Steel finally ended several minutes later, explaining Berto's plan as best he could remember from his brief glance at it. Other than a few occasional questions, Max did manage to make it through the explanation fairly well. "All that is of course assuming I read Berto's notes correctly, because as we both know with him you can never be too sure," Steel added, glancing thoughtfully at the ground while pressing one hand to his "chin". It was true; one moment the young scientist was fixing/improving a given weapon and the next he was inventing a whole new one whose purpose was unknown to anyone but him. At any given time of the day there were various weapons and gadgets strewn about his lab in various states of disassembly. To any normal person it was hard to tell what was in production from what was being repaired or improved. All anyone could hope for when entering his lab was that nothing exploded on them due to a trip/faulty wire. Thanks to his child like curiosity (and Max's seemingly constant need for new weapons and gear), everyone knew to be weary when passing/entering this particular lab.

Finished with his battle plan roughly five minutes later, Berto continued to look busy by moving various designs around on his holoscreen and pretending to type various notes in order to hear how much Steel not only remembered, but also how well he explained it from what he knew was only a momentary glance. Despite working with advanced technology every single day he came to work, the young Hispanic scientist simply could not get over the marvel that made up the living alien tech. After being asleep for approximately sixteen years and awake for only two, it was amazing that the only negative result was memory loss. At the same time, Berto never ceased to be amazed by the little floating machine's ability to pick up on and understand human behaviors and patterns in such a short amount of time. Over time, it became impossible to count how many times Steel's ability to do so came in handy, especially when he had to impersonate a given individual in order to lure the baddie out. That is not to say that Steel never had a little fun with the ability, often at Max and Berto's expense of course.

With the floating alien's explanation coming to a close, Berto proceeded to ensure all his work was properly saved and in presentation order before turning around to face the mentally and to a certain extent physically inseparable duo in order to signal that he was ready for them. As it turned out, Kirby and Sydney had also finished at the same time and were making their way over to the little group with determined looks on their faces. Due to the direction he was standing, Max saw them coming and was easily able to read and understand their expressions as they got closer. Instead of following Steel directly over to Berto, Max chose to wait for his friends and actually hear them say the words instead of just assuming, least he guess wrong and force them into doing something they did not want to. This was a lesson he quickly learned. You couldn't force someone to fight as being able to effectively do so was ninety percent mental and ten percent skill. If you didn't have a strong enough desire to fight, you could throw punches and defend yourself all you wanted, but in the end it would not make a difference as you would quickly lose energy and tire long before your opponent; Adrenalin and the will to live could only get you so far. Eventually there comes a time where the same natural substance that helped to keep you alive before ends up turning into the very thing that ends up killing you due to the fact that the more tired you get, the more desperate you become. The more desperate you are the better chance you have of making a mistake that could prove fatal.

Unwilling to expose his friends to any more danger than absolutely necessary, Max softly smiled at them while crossing his arms over each other so his wrists rested in the crook of his elbows and he appeared relaxed while inside he was slightly fearful and anxious to hear their decisions. Being as they were his friends, he was hesitant to put them in any danger at all, even though considering the circumstance he did not have much of a choice. At least if they chose to help him out, he knew they would stand a chance at surviving due to the fact that they would now understand the basics of how to fight no matter how small that chance might be. On the other hand, his anxiety came from the fact that if they answered the way he thought, then he would be the one training them. He just wished that it was under better circumstances such as him telling them because he wanted to, not because he was being forced due to circumstance. Silently accepting that he could not go back in time to change the situation, he instead focused on mentally preparing himself to train his two best friends as fast as he could. He knew from personal experience that training was as much about the teacher as the student. If the teacher could not accurately explain a given technique to his/her student(s) then the chance of their success greatly diminished. "So what did you guys ultimately decide," he questioned once they got close enough for not to have to yell.

Always the leader when Max was not around for whatever crazy reason, Sydney quickly looked at Kirby in order to confirm his earlier decision-as after this there was no going back- and receiving a silent affirmative nod yes she confidently crossed her own arms over her chest while staring at Max and saying, "We've decided that we…...are ready to help in any way we possibly can. Train us up Steel." At a loss of what to say due to his conflicting emotions, the young agent struggled to come up with ways to possibly dissuade them before remembering that they were running low on time as it was so he had to just get over the fact that his best friend and girlfriend both wanted to fight for something they believed in; their home and justice.

Of course just as he was about to open his mouth to warm them just how rough and grueling the training was going to be, Steel zipped over and sarcastically asked, "Oh did I hear that someone wanted me to train them?" Even though the little alien tech bot was unable to truly smile in any way, it was easy for all three to hear the smugness in his voice. Ever since ultra-linking roughly two years ago, both had been playfully arguing over who was the most important of their duo. Max thought he was because generated the energy that kept Steel alive, while said tech bot thought he was because without him Max would be a smoldering crater by now. For them it was just a friendly argument that helped blow off steam after a long hard day and neither really cared who "won" in the end as they knew that they could not survive for long without the other.

With a playful smile on his face, Max uncrossed his right arm and gently shoved his forever pal while shooting back, "Yeah, sorry Steel I think Sydney was referring to me. Besides we both know that I'm going to be the one training them." Inside he couldn't help but be a little excited and nervous about doing so even though he knew what it would eventually lead to. He just hoped that for their sake, they would be able to pick everything up quick enough to actually do some damage. True he didn't expect them to be as good as him, as that kind of skill only came with a couple years of practice, but he at least wanted them to have enough skill to at least survive against someone like Toxon and DREDD. With nervousness flooding his system, Max awkwardly sighed before turning to look at the ground and telling them to follow him, Steel of course following behind. His plan was to first run them through a few basic drills that even the most uncoordinated N-Tek Agent could get through in order to gage how much he would have to physically train them followed by simulations that would test their mental strengths and finish up with a few basic weapons demonstrations and call it a day. As much as he wanted to get out there and fight, there was no point in doing so with two rookies that were bound to be exhausted by the end of the day. Even for him, pulling off such a task was difficult and was likely to do more harm than good.

"Everything alright Max?" the little techno bot cautiously and quietly questioned floating up alongside his partner and lightly placing a hand on his shoulder in what he hoped was comforting gesture. From all the human interactions he had picked up on in his roughly two years of re-existence, all signs pointed towards it being the right thing to do in this sort of situation. Thanks to their time spent together, Steel knew that when it came to Max even a simple a gesture such as this could help, even if he did not verbally acknowledge the action. Secretly, it was something the young man had come to like about his techno buddy. On the one hand, he was able to be the full of life comedic friend he needed while the other side that few got to see was his quiet, helpful and caring nature which came in handy during tense situations such as these. No one was sure where it came from, only that they were grateful for it. While he could be a bit of a blabber mouth goof, he was also able to lend an ear so to speak and keep secrets when necessary.

Not quite sure how to speak his mind with both subjects so close, Max instead settled for quietly telling Steel that he would explain what he was thinking once he had both people set up and running the course to see exactly what they needed help with, a camera of course recording all the while for educational purposes. The more he could fine tune both people's reactions, the better they would be out in the field fighting against someone like Toxon. _'Please just hang in there a little longer mom and Uncle Farris,' _he desperately thought once through with Steel. Of course as soon as he finished thinking that, a message came in via Steel over N-Tek's main frequency hastily explaining that they had two high ranking causalities coming into the medical bay "hot" meaning fast and furious. Knowing that there were only a few people that could have medical personnel so worked up, Max instantly took off instantly forgetting about his friends and focusing solely on reaching the location praying all the while that the two incoming victims were not who he thought they were. Sure he did not wish for anyone to be hurt, but at the same time he honestly had no clue what he would do if either his mom or uncle were hurt or dying.

Despite the young agent having so abruptly taken off, Steel knew that in this situation his responsibility was to the civilians behind him and making sure they did not wonder anywhere they were not supposed to. As Forge always said, "things were on a need to know basis" and currently neither needed to know any more than they already did. Then again, it was not like he knew any more information than Max. Understanding the possibility of things to come, the techno alien took control of the situation and calmly continued on track as if nothing had happened. The last thing they needed was to waste more time worrying about the 'what if's' when they could instead be working on battle techniques and strategies so that in the event one did not work, there were at least three to four more to fall back on. As previously stated, N-Tek did its best to be ready for anything. This of course meant that there were at least a few situations such as this that they were not prepared for.

_'Guess I do get to train them after all,' _Steel humorlessly thought, continuing to lead Kirby and Sydney toward the easiest simulation room. _'I just wish that it was for a reason other than someone getting hurt.'_ For safety reasons N-Tek designed each room to only be able to go up to a certain level. The last thing they needed was someone dying in supposedly safe practice drill due to faulty machinery, someone in the control room accidently pressing/sliding the wrong button or control, etc…. Sure there was still the risk that it could go higher than what the individual(s) were ready for, but at least in theory it would not be hard enough to actually kill someone. In order to do that, N-Tek itself would have to be hacked at which point an alarm would sound telling someone such as Berto what was going on. With how protected the system was, it would even be hard for someone on the inside to hack as the codes and people that knew them were randomly changed daily between a group of six people and one alien: Berto, Molly, Max, Farris, Kat, Jefferson and Steel.

Arriving at the correct room two minutes later, Steel silently contacted Berto for the code who input it into the control located on his arm (as he was currently running to meet the jet transporting the two patents) and wirelessly sent it to the door which then automatically slid open (something that would only work inside N-Tek walls) to reveal the same plain white room with literally nothing in it that Max began his training in. "Ok you guys go in and I'll be in the other room watching and controlling the situation as necessary. Now I know that both of you have no reason to trust a techno organic life form that you only met half an hour ago, but please at least trust in the fact that Max trusts me with his life practically on a daily basis. Also that he would junk me if anything happened to either of you," Steel seriously explained before "directing" and thus locking both people in the room until they either completed the simulation or simply gave up in sheer exhaustion.

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Unconsciously having somehow tapped into his speed mode, Max made it to the emergency landing zone just as both people were being off loaded and rushed into the critical care unit of N-Tek's medical wing. Although he could not see much due to the number of medical personnel crowded around both patents, he was able to catch the names "Molly" and "Commander", both of which made his stomach drop through the floor and blood run colder than snow in the Antarctic during winter. Sprinting forward as fast as his turbo energy would let him, Max roughly shoved people working on the first patent out of the way in order to confirm or deny his suspicions. After laying eyes on the first figure he struggled to control his emotions and not run from the room crying. At the same time, he knew he also needed to get away from the situation and let the doctors and nurses get back to work least he lose this person. As the universe likes to be cruel, he was able to get a quick glimpse of the second seriously injured person, the sight of which made him pause in his steps and continue to stare straight ahead even after the people left. He simply could not believe what he had seen. Two of the people he worked with daily were just sped into the critical care section of their onsite hospital. Nothing could ever erase the images of both people lying on the gurneys covered in scorch marks, lacerations, bruises and many more assorted injuries from their head to their toes. Even without medical knowledge he could tell that their chances were slim and fading fast with every passing second. As if those sights were not enough, the crushing guilt that he could have saved them had he just been there followed shortly thereafter, ultimately leaving him in a shocked stupor that he did not come out of until Berto came for him about an hour later.

Quieter than Max ever thought possible, Berto looked at the ground with his arms tucked tightly and awkwardly beneath his shoulders and uttered four simple words that made his knees threaten to collapse with fear, "Max, come with me." Due to his zombie like state, the young man could do nothing more than silently obey and hope for the best despite the scientist's reaction. Never in the world did he want something more than he did now. If either person failed to make it, he knew that his chances of staying focused enough to win the battle likely still raging outside would significantly decrease. Even now he knew that it would be hard for him to fight due to the distraction of not knowing how both were doing every second. Combine that with Berto's grave reaction and he was ready to literally fall to pieces due to the various and equally scary scenarios running freely through his mind. Honestly, Max himself could not explain how he had yet to do so. His best guess would be due to the fact that he was in too much shock to feel much else.

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A/N: I am SO completely and utterly sorry this took so long to update. Once I got to camp I had limited to no access to the internet and when I got home each weekend I was too tired to work this as they have you going from at least seven in the morning until whatever time us councilors wanted to go to sleep. In order to make up for the lack of update, I made sure this chapter was extra-long. My goal was to get to 3,000 words for this chapter and somehow I managed to pass that. With how much I was struggling with this chapter, I'm honestly surprised I was able to successfully do so. Sorry if future chapters are not as long, but I did this for the specified reason above. I will try my best, but I make no promises.

On a different note, the idea for the two injured people actually came to me while writing this chapter. I figured we had enough of the just the small group and that it was time to mix things up a bit and somewhat see what happened to the others. As for the whole code thing, honestly I have no idea where that came from just that it seemed like something N-Tek would do in order better protect their people. Hope this was worth the wait and to hear about whom you think the injured people could be. I think I gave too much away by explaining Max's reaction, but then again I could be wrong. Either way, can't wait to see you again next chapter and thank you SO SO SO SO much for sticking with me this long. Never did I imagine this idea being so long and expanding the way it has. At this rate, I will have my first ten chapter story. XD XD XD XD.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am that this took so long. I thought I'd be awake enough on my flight to Washington D.C. to write this, but turns out I wasn't despite my inability to sleep. While my body was awake, my mind was asleep. On top of that, my life has just gotten a whole heck of a lot busier than I expected. I am SO sorry and thank you for continuing to stick with this story. With that, I finally bring you the next chapter of Time for the Truth.

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Tired and breathless, Kirby bent forward with his hands on his knees, struggling to breath normally after ducking down an ally to avoid a laser shot to the chest, which thanks to Steel both he and Sydney knew would be really painful but not deadly. Before going in, the three of them agreed that it would be best if they kept the simulation as real as possible so that like policemen and women with pepper spray, they would know how to take a painful hit and continue on through the pain. _'Come on Kirby think. Your heroes/best friends are counting on you. How would they take down gang of goop monsters?'_ Flashing back, he quickly recalled part of the weapons briefing both of them received before entering the very realistic simulation.

_Anxious to get the two trainees out the door and into the training as fast as possible with the various grenades, mini-bombs, laser swords and guns that had been laid before them, Doctor Felicia Jayden turned around to grab another weapon from the shelf behind her before assuming her original position and explaining the basics of the laser assault rifle she was holding in her hands. "Now while the other weapons are cool and all, the main one used by most agents here at N-Tek is the TAR-22 Laser Assault Rifle. Essentially it works the same way as a normal assault rifle, there are only three major differences: one, this is this is lighter, two it shoots lasers instead of bullets and three you do not need to reload it as often. Typically your average TAR-22 Assault Rifle has about three shots before you need to reload, whereas this is able to shoot about twelve before that happens." Shouldering the weapon, she took aim and fired at a target just above the civilians' heads that Steel had activated seconds before. "This is capable of taking down just about anything made of flesh or liquid depending on their size and has a range of up to 2200 meters." Seeing both teens' confused faces she patently continued, "That is 2400 yards give or take."_

Metaphorical light bulb going off in his head, Kirby reached down to his left side and grabbed the weapon hanging there, reenergized to jump out and take down as many goop monsters as he could. His main strategy for now was to just go out there and take down as many enemies as he could before getting caught. This was only a simulation after all.

* * *

Trapped against a brick wall by human Jason Naught with seemingly with no way out due to her hands being pinned to her sides and airway slowly being restricted, Sydney struggled to calm down and recall what she had learned in the self-defense classes she had to take in order to graduate in about a year. _'Think girl think! Sure your hands are trapped, but that still leaves your feet and your head.'_ With that thought, she bowed her head and let the rest of her body go limp as if surrendering-allowing her captor to think just for just a second that she had completely given up-before rearing up and letting the top of her head connect with the bottom of his nose while also bringing her foot up and letting it connect with his groin as hard as she could and injuring his manhood and likely his nose along with his hold on her. While he did have extra powers, as long as he was in his human form he still had the same human weaknesses.

The second she was free from his grasp she realized that she was still trapped in the dead end ally. Left with only one option, she hastily picked up the weapon she had dropped seconds after being trapped and aimed it at the villain before pulling the trigger, not pausing to think over what she was about to do. Despite the feeling that came with understanding what she had just done, Sydney also knew that she still had a job to complete. Tossing the gun's sling over her arm she then jogged down to the opening, paying the weapon no mind as the mouth fell to her right hip. From now on, her strategy was to be ready for anything and everything. While some might see this as paranoid, she saw it as protection. In this kind of world, paranoia could spell the difference between life and death. When you really think about it, the mind can be as much a tool as a weapon. The difference is how it is used. On the one hand, it can make someone see things that are not truly there, while on the other it can be used as a lifesaving resource to get one out of a sticky situation-metaphorical or otherwise.

Using the tool to her advantage for now, Sydney carefully peaked out-and once sure it was safe to emerge-took her chance and sprinted for the next challenge.

* * *

After the most intense work out of their lives, Sydney and Kirby had one arm draped over the other as they slowly emerged from the training room together battered, bruised, and slightly singed from when they couldn't get out of the path of the low powered laser(s)-aimed from various sources-at them in time. All in all, they did surprisingly better than Steel expected. For two complete novices, they sure knew a lot about not just self-defense, but also battle strategy. He would have to ask Max later whether or not he consciously taught them that. If not, then N-Tek just might have to recruit them even after this whole disaster was over as they would have shown definite potential. Actually from what Steel had seen, he realized that they showed potential either way and was not afraid to let them know that.

Confidently floating over to the duo, he allowed a huge smiley face appear on his facial screen as he happily exclaimed, "You guys did amazing. Better than I and I'm sure Max could have ever hoped had he been here to watch, but," he added on switching back to his normal eye setting and wanting to keep them from getting a big head, "That does not mean that there isn't room for improvement. For instance, Kirby you need to work on not being so trigger happy. Just because you do have a weapon doesn't mean that you need to use it, as there may be times where you don't have one, so don't get used to relying on one." Now turning to the young woman, Steel honestly told her, "Now Sydney, while you did an excellent job in hand-to-hand combat-and taking down Jason Naught I might add-much like Max when he first started out, you also need to realize that it's not all about brute force. There will be times, especially once we get outside where you will need to rely on any and all objects around you in order to take down your opponent.

"Basically when it comes to fighting in the field," Steel went on, refocusing his attention on the both of them, "the best advice is to listen to your gut and/or your instinct. In this line of work, if something doesn't feel right then it probably isn't. Choosing to ignore this sort of "sixth sense" you humans seem to have could mean the difference between life and death….or at least that is what I've heard the commander say a few times during my training with Max." Shrugging off the thought, he then clapped his "hands" together and told the two, "Well that's enough of that. After a quick break for you guys to get your strength back, we will meet in the briefing room to talk about how to control your emotions in battle so they do not overwhelm you and possibly cause you to freeze up." Disappearing back into the room he had just come out of-in order to print out directions for them to follow to the closest break room then the briefing room-he left Kirby and Sydney to wonder if they were supposed to follow him or if they were dismissed, where they could go and how long they had for their break.

Just as they were about to give up waiting and aimlessly wander around the compound looking for anything to drink, Steel came back out holding two pieces of paper and extending one towards each of the two temporary recruits. "What are these for?" Kirby questioned, slowly taking the proffered paper and looking it over in his exhaustion induced haze.

Confused by the young man's question (as he thought that even in his exhaustion Kirby would be able to recognize typed directions), Steel scratched his "head" and was about to reply when Sydney beat him to it and answered, "They're directions to both the break room and briefing room." Turning her attention back to the floating techno alien, she went on, "Thanks Steel. Meet you there in about fifteen minutes," without even waiting for a response, she secured Kirby's arm behind her neck and helped him hobble towards their first destination, doing her best to ignore her own aches and pains.

Once sure that they were alright and going to make it on their own, Steel took off in search of Max and Berto, wanting to see with his own eye that the two critical and highly important patents were alright. Even though he was an alien robot, he still had the ability to feel things-such as emotions-as strongly as a human. As everyone knows, words can only do so much to help.

* * *

Heart heavy and mind racing with what he had to tell his best friend, Berto struggled to come up with the words that needed to be said while opening the door to one of the many exam rooms and allowing his best friend to enter first. Clearing his throat to get the other young man's attention, he decided to just go with the first thing that came to mind and speak from the heart while also delivering the news as gently as he could. To him it was plainly obvious that Max was already in enough emotional pain as it was, so to be forced to add even more….to be honest, Berto wasn't sure his best friend's mind could take what it was about to hear. "Max," he quietly asked, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder in order to help direct the attention to himself. Not receiving any outward sign of acknowledgement, Berto tried again, "Max I know this will hurt, but you need to listen to what I am about to say. It's…."

"It's what Berto?! It's important?!" Max angrily began, shrugging off the hand and turning away, crossing his own arms over his chest. "Don't you think I know that already?! I knew that from the moment they came in and I saw their critically injured bodies. What I don't know is, how they are doing or if they are even still alive or even if their injuries look worse than they really are." By this point, tears were threatening to fall and it took all of his emotional training not to punch the white wall nearest him in rage, least he injure himself before getting out into the field. Sure he healed a lot quicker than everyone else, but to do so required energy, energy that he was already struggling to contain.

Worried for his best friend/partner, Berto immediately flew into action and attempted to turn him back around so as to regain his attention before he did anything rash. When that did not work, he settled instead for walking around into the young man's line of sight himself. Having witnessed DREDD in action in the past, the young scientist was not eager to let that kind of angry energy be released within the walls of N-Tek. Taking a deep breath, Berto calmly spoke, "Do you hear yourself man? I know you're in pain, truth be told I am too, but you need to hear what I'm about to say before decide what to do. This is your mother and Uncle we are talking about here." Pulling up the chair he found in the corner of the room, he went on, "Here, why don't you sit down as what I'm about to tell you won't be easy to hear."

Shocked over his reaction, Max immediately began apologizing before being cut off by Berto who said it was completely understandable and redirecting him to the seat once again. As he did that, the young scientist took the time to get himself comfortable as well, leaning against the counter and softly crossing his arms over his chest in an awkward, unsure manner. For the next minute or so neither said anything, both simply lost in their thoughts. Eventually Berto figured out what to say and looked at his best friend before breaking the silence first. "Hey listen, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but everyone agreed that this news would be best delivered by someone close to you such as me." Wishing to be anywhere but here, Berto crossed his arms tightly over his stomach and looked at the suddenly very interesting ground while quietly yet strongly admitting, "I won't sugar coat this Max. The truth is, we aren't sure if they will survive the night. It will be a miracle if they do. We are doing all we can to help them. I am so sorry. They are in room 244 if you want to see them. For now I will leave you alone. You know how to reach me if you need anything." Having just about reached his own emotional breaking point, Berto used that reason to excuse himself and release his emotions in alone as well. Even though his gut told him it was a bad idea to leave him alone in his current state, he knew that it would be worse if he tried to stay and help Max in his condition.

Even though he was not related to the two injured people in anyway more than professional, their current state was hitting him just as much as Max. Due to how close everyone in this job worked, they both had become like a second family to him. While it was clichéd, it was one-hundred percent true.

* * *

A/N: Once again, I am SO INCREDIBLY SORRY for how long this took. On both plane flights, I simply found myself too tired to concentrate long enough to write. The same went for when I went back to work. It seemed like whenever I found time to write/got in the mood, I simply could not concentrate long enough. Anyway, I hope this chapter is to everyone's liking and that I kept the characters in cannon. Also, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed and simply stuck with this story for as long as you have. I will try my best to have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Until then, thank you all so much!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow has this story grown. When I first started this a few months ago, I never envisioned it being anything more than a one maybe two shot at best; so to now be on chapter eight with at least twenty-four reviews, fourteen favorites and twenty-one followers is simply amazing. I honestly cannot describe how thankful I am for each and every one. You guys are the reason I keep writing this. Truth be told, I probably would have lost interest in this idea were it not for all of you. Here's hoping this next chapter satisfies.

* * *

Energy just about spent, Berto made sure he was far enough away from the emotionally distraught teen he left in the exam room before leaning against a wall and sinking down to the floor, bringing his legs as close to his body as he could then wrapping his arms around them as if to somehow contain all the helplessness, pain and sorrow he felt. No matter how great his pain, the young scientist knew that it was nothing compared to how horrible Max likely felt. It was a wonder how he hadn't heard him scream in emotional and/or physical pain by now. He supposed that it could be due to the fact that he might still be shock from receiving the news. Lord knew that this type of message would shake anyone up. Recalling from the still messed up power chart that he was technically in charge, Berto took a deep breath to steady his emotions before slowly rising to his feet and swallowing the last his emotions, knowing that they would have to be dealt with later after this whole fiasco was over.

Swallowing the last of his emotions for the moment, the young man took a second to dust himself off and make sure he had everything before proceeding to the main operations room to check on in everyone still left outside fighting via video or other means. All he could hope for, for now was that things were not as bad out there as he feared. If Molly and Farris were able to get so critically injured then….no, he couldn't afford to think like that. Thoughts like would only lead to emotional decisions which could in turn cause more harm than good as learned through stories of Jim (Max's father) and Farris out in the field. Their antics out there were practically legendary as they did literally whatever it took to save each other, often disobeying direct orders from their superior.

Max had already lost one person close to him and a second and third could be on their way depending on how things went, Berto was not about to let him lose anymore. As it was, the young scientist did not know if he would be able to forgive himself for not doing something if the two people most critical to him and N-Tek actually died. Having reached the room he needed he swiped his access card that enabled him to enter just about any room on the base, entered his agent identification number before submitting to a retina scan which then allowed him to enter the room. Once inside he immediately went over to the command console which then allowed him to-upon typing in both Kat's and Jefferson's identification numbers-access their wrist mounted communication devices in a three way call sort of function.

"Jefferson here," the older man replied at the same time as Kat answered with just her name, while also avoiding shots from various sources all around them.

"Just checking in to see how bad things are out there and to let you both know the same thing I just told Max." Pausing to brace himself against the words he never wanted or hopped to say again, Berto collected his emotions and told them, "I'm sure by now you both know that Molly and Farris have been critically injured." After receiving conformation from both that they had in fact heard this information, he continued, "Well after finishing with them myself about an hour ago, I hate to say that it does not seem like they will make through the night and I have yet to hear word otherwise. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I only do it so you know the entire situation and how things might go around here should worst come to worst."

Using his arm to protect himself from the shower of debris that suddenly came raining down on him from what he guessed was a shot meant for him, Jefferson screamed in shock (as he had stupidly allowed himself to get so wrapped up in the news) then stood up and quickly fired off his own series of shots before crouching back down and refocusing on the conversation. "Meaning for now you are once again in charge of N-Tek," the older man stated more than questioned, remembering the chain of command from the last time Farris was absent in action.

Pushing off the console he had been leaning on, Berto proceeded to pace the floor with one arm across his stomach and the other resting underneath his chin in thought before returning to his original position and confidently responding, "Actually no. After having to juggle being both Max's partner and commander the last time, I hereby hand over the position to Kat." Hoping to avoid an argument they did not have time for, he hastily added, "Sorry Jefferson, she just scares me more. So good luck Kat and I will contact both of you later with any updated information as need be." Not wasting any more valuable time, Berto promptly hung up then proceeded out of the room planning to check on Kirby and Sydney's progress. With hope, they would be done for the day and ready for a quick debrief of everything they learned before getting a few hours' sleep then joining the battle still raging outside the next day.

* * *

Numb from shock, Max could do nothing more than stand there and look at the blank white wall across from him. What else could he do after learning that both his uncle and mom might not pull through? Unconsciously fisting his hands at his sides and squeezing them as tight as he could, the young man fought desperately to control his ranging emotions and rapidly rising TURBO energy in an effort to not take out the area around him. As hard as it was to do, Max eventually managed it only because of his many training sessions, but that was not to say that his anger at Elementor was completely. No rather it was strengthened by the possibility of what might happen. Needing an outlet for his anger, the young man recalled the white wall he had been staring at before and thought that it was as good a thing as any.

After quickly debating between blasting it and actually punching the thing, Max reasoned that by punching it, not only would it allow him to physically release his anger, but it would also be better for the rest of N-Tek. While his punch alone would do some serious damage, a blast could and likely would damage more than just a single wall. Not too keen on testing the idea, the young agent walked up until there was only about a foot of space between him and the wall, then pulled his right fist back as far as he could in order to release as much power and anger as possible, he then let it fly only stopping after punching a hole directly through the wall with only a little resistance. Sure people were likely to question the puncture in the wall, but at the current time Max understandably could not bring himself to care much.

Satisfied for the moment, the young brown haired agent fell back on his months of emotional training in order to successfully do his job, understanding that currently things such as emotions could lead to bad choices and someone possibly getting hurt or killed. With two of the best seemingly down for good, N-Tek could not afford to lose anyone else. Knowing that he still had a job to do, Max exited the room and proceeded to the Team Steel operations room in order to look for Berto and/or Steel to figure out how things were going….aside from the obvious of course. In the few hours he was out of it, the brunet was nearly one-hundred percent sure that something had to have happened that he needed to know.

Not taking much interest in the few people rushing past him to check either check on their own colleagues or take care of the injured, the eighteen year old agent continued down the plain white hall musing to himself on the possibilities-both good and bad-of what could have occurred in his absence. For instance, was Berto once again the head of N-Tek or had that problem been fixed? If so, who was the new head? Was it him, as he was the closest related to Farris outside of his mom? No, he was sure that Berto would have told him if that was the case. How bad were things outside? Being a few miles underground allowed them the luxury of protection against just about anything that happened above. Sure with two of the best severely injured he had some idea, but exactly how bad was it? Were Kat and Jefferson about to be rushed through the doors with their own life threatening injuries? All Max could do was hope not, because if they were then he knew that Sydney, Kirby, Steel and himself would only stand a fool's chance at getting anywhere close to winning. Actually, if that happened, he would not even take his friends out. He would ensure that they were locked tightly away in here, least anything happen to them. At least if worst came to worst, N-Tek would have some hope of eventually fighting back.

Over the past two years, Max had not only witnessed both Kirby and Sydney in their own fair share of battles, but had also trained them himself from to time under the guise of self-defense, which in Kirby's case literally meant _self-_defense when they first started out. Anyone who had seen him with the foam bow staff a few years ago would definitely agree. Since then, both had improved dramatically. Now Sydney was able to take down a person at least three if not four times her size and strength with little problem, and Kirby had since become skilled in his use of a real metal bow staff. At first Max was hesitant to give him a real one, but when his seventeenth birthday came around, he was suitably satisfied by Kirby's improvement enough to receive permission from his uncle-who had also seen both of them (at discreet distance of course) from time to time-to give him one of N-Tek's. It was an older used one sure, but still considering he was only a junior in high school at the time, it was more believable that it was all he would have been able to afford. This was why when it came time for them to practice in the simulation, he was sure that not only would they be ready, but Steel and whoever else was watching would be shocked at their skill and maybe even decide to recruit them when this was all said and done. Sure Max would be the first to admit that they both still had their faults, but for their lack of formal training they were pretty good.

Rounding a corner, the young agent ran smack into his partners Berto and Steel-who had been coming from the left hallway-to meet them and get up to speed after finishing up with Kirby and Sydney for the moment. "Oh, sorry Berto," Max absent mindedly apologized, extending his hand to his fallen partner while his mind was on his ever fading relatives on the floor beneath him. For the longest time, having his mom or uncle critically injured had definitely been up there with one his most feared moments, so to have both of them in N-Tek's on-site intensive care units was almost more than he could bare. Almost, because he knew that unless he wanted their potential deaths to be in vain then he needed to focus to get the job done. Plus, he remembered hearing somewhere before that life didn't give you more than you could handle. At the same time, he knew that he couldn't waste time thinking about the 'what-if's', because time spent doing that is time that could have been better spent planning and preparing to go back outside into the heat of the battle.

"It's fine, bro. I understand," Berto wearily replied, scooping up his fallen electronic clipboard and pen that he had been writing with before accepting the offered hand and standing up once again and looking at both Max and Steel. In doing so, he could see the toll that everything from the revelation to now had taken on both of them. What was surprising was just how well he could read Steel, what with him being a machine and all. Despite the earlier claims that machines were incapable of feeling, Berto referred to Steel. For all his mechanical parts, he also had many human qualities such as compassion, kindness, anger, frustration and yes at times even true fear. There were instances where Berto thought that had he been blind, he would not have been able to tell whether Steel was man or machine. Despite Steel being robotic, after working with him for so long it had gotten easier to tell when even he was limits and this was one of those times. With his "arms" hanging limply at his sides instead of held up with pride and his "head" hanging just slightly more forward and lower than usual, it was simple for him at least to tell that even he was feeling the stress of the situation.

Now being human, Max was easier to read with his eyes glazed over in what was likely worry for his family, shoulders slumped and head bent forward in deep sorrow. Hoping to bring his friend and partner back before he completely lost it, Berto quietly spoke, "Hey, I uh was just on my way to let you know both know that while in the past I became the head of N-Tek in Forge's absence, I gave have since given the job to Kat as I felt she was more ready to fulfill the job in this sort of crisis…that and she scares me more than Jefferson," he added in an attempt to lighten the somber mood. Even though this was a serious situation, didn't mean that they couldn't have a little fun. As learned in the past, if things were kept too serious for too long, then someone could lose it and snap at the wrong person at the wrong time. The last time anything close to magnitude occurred, Dread had basically taken the entire city hostage in an effort to drain all their energy to power himself. It was simply luck that Max figured out what to do and survive it all without the battle lasting more than two days. Of course this situation was much bigger than that, but the situation was generally the same: a big power hungry monster rampages the city looking for Max and his ultimate "fix". In the end, that's all the Elementors and Dread were, junkies looking for their next fix, which in this case sadly required Max and his TURBO power.

* * *

A/N: To everyone who has read, reviewed and stuck with the story for this long, I only have one thing to say, thank you all so, so much from the bottom of my heart. Every review means so much to me and helps me to find the energy to continue this story even after a long day at school. Sorry this took so long, but I hope it lived up to your expectations of me. Hopefully in the next chapter we get to find out what happens to everyone. It all depends on how the story goes, as there are times where it seems to take on a life of its own, thus leaving me with no idea where the heck it's going. When that happens, all I know is that I'm along for the awesome ride.

Well until next time my loyal readers and reviewers,

Fictionwriter28

P.S.: To everyone who remembers the second chapter, yes I did change the villains a little in that I combined the Elementors to better reflect the show and switched Toxon for Dread as based on the last episode "The Truth Hurts". By the way, for anyone who wants to talk about that or other episodes, the boards are still open so feel free to drop by and say what you want about the episode(s) in a non-flaming way.


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